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AGAINST CHANNEL ONE; DIDN'T PLAN SIMPSON LINK; RADIO SETS THE PACE; NO BEE HIVE, THIS; MISPLACED PERIOD; HANGING IT ON THE WALL

Published on August 29, 1994.

As a retired educator (34 years), I must be unkind and take issue with some items in your Rance Crain's column "Whittle, O.J. tirades hide NEA blemishes" (AA, July 11). However, I do realize that education is not a field of your expertise, so it's not surprising that you have parroted a number of inaccurate generalizations about public education.

I saw excellent TV coverage on the advent of Whittle's Channel One in-school TV programming venture, and it took no genius to see the shallowness of its puffery and what it claimed it would do for improving public education. Since 1964, PBS and ETV have been in place and both its pedagogic and intellectual quality has been on the upswing ever since. Channel One at best is the 20th century version of the 19th century medicine show-shallow and misleading, and I expect the "pall effect" takes effect quite rapidly on any student group watching it.

The NEA is on target in opposing the attempt to make the irrationality of advertising a part of the ambience of the educational setting. Rationality has always been in short supply in the social environment and attempts to undermine it must be opposed. Whether you realize it or not, the basic function of advertising is to encourage conspicuous consumption, not rational behavior.

Robert J. Throckmorton

Las Vegas, Nev.

In response to Jeff Jensen's story on Logo Athletic's new advertising campaign ("Simpson trial eyed for Logo 7 ads," AA, Aug. 22), I would like to stress that our company had no intention of being associated with the O.J. Simpson trial.

This upcoming campaign featuring our national spokesman Troy Aikman was shot in Dallas on May 15, long before the Simpson incidents occurred. We planned the spot back in March when Mr. Aikman expressed interest in creating an issue-oriented campaign focusing on violence and crime, which we view as the No. 1 problem facing society today. The resulting spot, "Think About It," incorporates footage from the NFL with scenes from everyday life, with Mr. Aikman warning, "Violence shouldn't be a part of real life."

The attention brought to the trial will likely result in additional impact for our spot. While this was certainly not our intention, our hope is that our message is heard.

Very thorough, with one glaring exception. Why is there no mention anywhere of the medium whose advertising growth Veronis Suhler projects will "increase at a 7.1% compound annual rate between 1993 and 1998, fastest growing of the measured media"?

The "mystery medium" is radio, which, according to the report, will not only outpace ad spending in general over the next five years, but will grow faster than any other measured medium, resulting in radio's share of advertising dollars growing to 11.6% by 1998 at the expense of newspapers and television.

All this great news for radio shouldn't have to be our industry's "little secret"-it's time to share it with the rest of the advertising world.

Gary Fries

President-CEO

Radio Advertising Bureau

New York

I have begun an immediate boycott of Kraft Foods.

May I explain? I went out to dinner with an Oriental student who, halfway through, asked me to visit her apartment. I'm a hobby bee-keeper and she had a gift for me-a newly-discovered bee colony in some planting mix outside her door.

From her description, these were not bees. But they were, she insisted. She definitely saw their nest illustrated, with honey dripping out, accompanied by flying bees, in a current magazine.

At my insistence, we bought a large can of wasp spray. I work organically, but this might be an emergency. Within an hour, I demolished four saucer-sized tiers of capped wasp larvae. From my knowledge of 15 years bee-keeping, I estimate that in four to seven days she'd have faced a minimum of 500 newly-emergent wasps 18 inches from her front door. For two Chinese city-raised girls, that might well have turned literally fatal.

She gave me the picture, still positive they were bees. Page 41 of the July Reader's Digest held the full page Kraft ad "A taste that was meant to bee," featuring a wasp's nest. No bee hive, nor old-fashioned skep-A WASP'S NEST ... impossibly dripping honey!

People who are basically ignorant about bees could easily translate that incorrect illustration into casual acceptance of a wasp's nest in a dangerous location-as my friend did. Even worse, seeing honey supposedly drip from it, who-especially children-may decide to "milk" or squeeze the nest? How many readers does this deceptive advertising put at painful-even possibly fatal-risk?

Since Kraft Foods-which I would hope and suppose had final approval of ads bearing its name-let this gross falsehood slide through, I am boycotting this company.

Louise Shannon

Chico, Calif.

In the July 25 "Brady's Bunch," Jim Brady says: "But don't test Brian on English Lit. He ran a Shakespeare quote, identifying it as a `Jacobean' play. The Jacobian period was 1750-1760. Shakespeare died in 1616."

Well let's not test Jim Brady on English Lit! The Jacobean period was named for James I (who succeeded Elizabeth. He was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and had been James VI of Scotland). He lived from 1603 to 1625 (Benet's "Readers' Encyclopedia," 3rd Edition). The middle of the 18th Century, which includes 1750-1760, was named by George Santayana the Augustan period-because that period in Rome produced several great writers, as did the mid-18th century period, which produced such writers as Addison and Steele.

Virginia Miles

Englewood, N.J.

The Jacobean period in English literature corresponds with the reign of James I, 1603-1625. I don't know what play Brian Granville was quoting from, but approximately one-third of Shakespeare's plays, including some of his great tragedies, were first performed during the Jacobean period.

George McGeehan

Philadelphia

We were so pleased to see the cartoon mentioning Wall Drug on your Letters page of July 4. We have had quite a lot of response to this and sure appreciate the advertising. We plan to laminate the cartoon on a wooden plaque and display it here in our store.